Foreign
by Numbuh 212
Summary: After Fanny's latest breakup, she meets Hoagie in the park to talk. Oneshot, 2x86, Sequel to Deep In Thought. Number 27 of my 100 Theme Challenge.


This story is part of my 100 Theme Challenge. For more information, visit my profile.

This story is a sequel to Deep In Thought.

I do not own Kids Next Door

27. Foreign

Hoagie was dreading his last period class. It was the one he had with Fanny, and given the rumors that were going around - again - he wasn't sure that it was a good idea for them to be in the same room, let alone sitting right next to each other. _Why_ did their teacher have to sit them in alphabetical order?

Sure enough, there came Fanny, stomping through the door and throwing down her books. She glared at Hoagie. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." He turned back toward the front of the room. Maybe he had been wrong about her. That certainly didn't sound like someone who was hurting. But when he turned back to look for a second, he saw something behind the anger in her eyes. It looked like pain, and . . . loneliness? Fanny, the girl who pushed everyone away, was lonely?

Of course, now that he considered it, he supposed it made sense. Nobody could get along without any friends at all. But Fanny had always been the one who didn't _need_ friends, who was perfectly happy being by herself. At least, she seemed that way.

And now that it was making sense, he berated himself for being so stupid. Of course she would have wanted some friends. But he guessed she had gotten into the habit of being unfriendly a long time ago, and now she didn't know how to get out of it. It was kind of sad, really. She was trapped in an endless cycle, one that couldn't be broken until someone saw past the standoffish behavior to the lonely girl that was really in there.

And there he went with the sentimental stuff again. He really needed to stop doing that. It was entirely possible that Fanny Fullbright was just a mean person. But he doubted it.

When Hoagie saw that their teacher wasn't paying any attention to the class – in fact, it looked like he was playing Solitaire – he decided to see if Fanny was doing okay. He scribbled a note on a sheet of paper.

_Hey, are you all right?_

She looked down at his writing, scowled, and scrawled a response.

_What do you think, moron?_

_Sheesh, don't kill a guy for asking. Do you want to talk about it?_

_Why on _earth_ do you think I would _ever_ want to talk to you about it?!_

_Well, okay, do you want to talk about something else?_

_Listen, I Do. Not. Want to talk to you, okay? Leave me alone!_

Hoagie sighed, and stuck the paper back in his binder. Nobody could say he hadn't tried.

x . o . x . o . x

All day long, Fanny had been just waiting until school was over and she could go home, but now what she found herself wanting to do was go talk to Hoagie. She didn't know why, but she hadn't really talked to anyone in such a long time. It might be good to confide in someone for a change. Ah, what was she thinking? She didn't need to "confide" in anybody. What was wrong with her?

So when the bell rang and Hoagie paused at the door, waiting for her, she walked right past him. But as she did, she muttered, "Meet me in the park in fifteen minutes." Just because she might want to talk to him didn't mean she had to be _seen_ with him.

x . o . x . o . x

Hoagie glanced around, searching for the familiar red hair that made Fanny so easy to spot. Finally he saw it, under a tree at the far side of the park. He smiled wryly. Walden Park was a popular after-school hangout, but the kids they knew usually stayed near the vending machines toward the front. Fanny had picked a spot about as far away as she could get from where anyone else at their school might see them. He should have expected as much.

As he got nearer he could tell that she had earbuds in her ears, and her eyes were closed. Hoagie sat softly down next to her and pulled out one of her earbuds, holding it up to his own ear.

Fanny's eyes snapped open and narrowed as he laughed. She yanked the bud out of his hand and turned off her iPod, but it was too late.

"I never pegged you for a show tunes fan, Fullbright," Hoagie said, still laughing.

"Shut up," she snapped angrily.

That made Hoagie feel guilty. After all, he hadn't come here to make fun of her. "I was just surprised, is all. As a matter of fact, I've been known to hum a few songs myself every now and then."

"Really." She raised one eyebrow skeptically.

Hoagie's face flushed slightly. "My mom used to play soundtracks all the time when I was younger. The songs are pretty much permanently burned into my brain. I couldn't get them out even if I tried, and believe me, I've tried."

Fanny smiled. "What do you think about _Annie Get Your Gun_?"

x . o . x . o . x

The two of them sat and talked about nothing in particular for a couple of hours. Fanny couldn't believe how awkward it _didn't_ feel talking to him. It was almost like she had known him her whole life, but they had never really talked before, aside from occasional bickering.

They fell silent for a moment, and finally Hoagie asked, "So . . . why did you and Jason call it quits?"

"Jason was _last_ month," Fanny said, rolling her eyes. Still, she was grateful that he didn't call it what it really was: getting dumped. "_Andrew_ and I decided that . . . well, it just wasn't working out."

"Hm." No disbelief, no skepticism, no accusation. Just "Hm." Fanny had no idea what to say to that. She blushed bright red and hoped that he wouldn't press the issue.

"The way some kids at our school gossip is so dumb, isn't it?" Hoagie commented.

"Yeah," Fanny answered nervously. Was he trying to talk about those rumors? Oh no. She did _not_ want to go there.

He seemed to sense this, because he changed the subject, somewhat. "So, are you gonna find another boyfriend?"

She bristled. "My love life is _none_ of your business!" she snapped.

To his credit, he immediately looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. You're right, that's none of my business."

Fanny sighed. "Anyway, he'd probably just dump me like the last nine did."

"That never stopped you before," Hoagie pointed out, rather unnecessarily, in her opinion.

"Oh, shut up. What do you know, anyway?"

"Well, it would seem to me," he said, folding his hands and assuming a scholarly expression, "that you keep asking out guys because you can't stand to have anyone get the better of you. I guess, then, you'll just keep going out until you find someone who won't dump you."

"Oh, so now you're a shrink, huh? Next I suppose you're going to tell me that you know exactly who-" Fanny suddenly realized something so strange that she stopped mid-sentence. Normally, if someone were talking to her like this, she would have been mad, outraged even, and stomped off. But here, with Hoagie, all she felt was mild annoyance. She even kind of _liked_ this playful banter they had going on. How . . . weird.

And then, an idea hit her that was even weirder. Fanny had been going to tell Hoagie that she guessed he knew exactly who wouldn't dump her, when she realized that _she_ knew who wouldn't dump her. It was simple, really. Why did she keep getting dumped? Because they thought she was obsessing over Hoagie Gilligan. That she didn't _at all _obsess over Hoagie Gilligan was beside the point. Everyone seemed to think so, and now that it was practically common knowledge, guys would begin to see obsession in just about everything she said. But there was one guy who she knew for sure would never accuse her of obsessing over Hoagie, and that was, well, Hoagie himself.

But that was ridiculous. She knew that she didn't like Hoagie. She had been over this already. It wasn't really worth it just to have a boyfriend who wouldn't dump her right away. That was silly.

But then again, if it didn't work out, what would he do, dump her? Worst-case scenario, she would have another boy to add to her list. And if it _did _end up working out . . . .

"No," she said emphatically.

"What?" Hoagie was looking at her in confusion, and she realized with a start that she had pretty much forgotten he was there.

"Nothing." Then again, maybe it _was_ worth a try . . . .

What the heck. He would probably just say no anyway.

"Actually, as it happens, I am in the market for a new boyfriend. Whaddya say?"

x . o . x . o . x

Hoagie was shocked, and slightly unsure of what to do next. Was Fanny just continuing the banter they had had going on, or was she serious? He decided, as he usually did, to go with humor rather than seriousness.

He held his hands to his chest in mock astonishment. "Oh, this is all so sudden!" Hoagie sighed in what he imagined to be a breathy voice.

Fanny didn't laugh. Very bad sign.

"I'm being serious, you idiot. Look, we both know why Andrew really dumped me, and all the others too," Fanny said. "I figure, you're just about the only one who won't be able to say _that_, at least, so who knows? Maybe we can figure something out. At the very least you'll have to find something a little more original to dump me over."

Oh gosh, she _was_ serious. Dangit, he wasn't ready for this yet. Sure, he had thought about it, but he hadn't ever come to a conclusion. But what the heck. Why not give it a chance? If things didn't work out, it was no big deal.

"Sure, let's give it try."

This time it was her turn to stare in shock. She obviously hadn't really been expecting him to say yes. Well, she was stuck with it now. And who knew, maybe it would work out after all. Who could tell?

x . o . x . o . x

Heard the next day in the halls of Lincoln High:

"I can't believe it! After getting dumped so many times, she finally saw the writing on the wall."

"I bet she just ran out of guys."

"It won't last a week. She'll get tired of him flirting with everything that breathes."

"They seemed pretty into it this morning. And Lizzie said she saw them totally making out at the park last night."

"Being in _love_ sure hasn't helped him in the jokes department. They're lamer than before, if that's even possible."

"Yeah, but _she_ hasn't snapped at _anyone_ yet this morning, and it's already, what, ten fifteen? That's gotta be some sort of record."

"They're way too different. If this works out, I'll eat my gym socks."

"Well, no one expected Beetles and Sanban to work out either, but look at them."

"Hmph. I'll believe it when I see it."

The End

A/N: And that would be why I don't usually write confession fics. They sail along just fine until they hit the actual confession, and then they sink like the Titanic (or like this metaphor). I wouldn't have written this one, except that Teh-Drabbler suggested it in her last review, and the idea started eating my brain. To avoid turning into a huddled mass in the corner babbling about peanut butter bowling balls, I wrote the darn thing.

And really, despite the overall suckiness, I think it wraps up the story rather nicely. Therefore, no matter what TD says in her review, I shall not write another sequel. In fact, TD, if you keep sending these plot bunnies to attack me, I might have to stop reading your reviews. XD

As always, reviews welcome, and concrit greatly appreciated.

Numbuh 212


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